Prior to the improvements described in this application a laminating machine known as “GBC Ultima 65 School Laminator” was promoted by General Binding Corporation in their 2001 Bulletin No. 1630371 3MO202, copyright 2001. The machine described in that bulletin utilized upper and lower supply rolls of laminating film, and the films from those supply rolls, with sheets of paper to be covered placed between the upper and lower films, were passed through the nip between upper and lower heated laminating rollers. A large number of the machines described in that brochure have presumably been in use in schools and offices which require sheet laminating equipment.
However, threading the films from the supply rollers through the machine and into operation on the heated laminating rollers has proven to be difficult for many classroom instructors, especially in aligning the webs of film with each other as they are inserted into the machine and thereafter placing them on the heated laminating rollers without having the installer's fingers touch the hot rollers.
In connection with observing these and related problems in the GBC Ultima 65 Laminator, and their solutions, other laminators and film handlers were investigated. The following United States patents were reviewed: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,998,117; 6,352,188; 6,698,487; 6,423,169; 5,019,203; 5,071,504; 5,139,600; and 5,087,318. The lack of recognition of the problems addressed by the present invention is evident in all of the equipment disclosed in these patents.